Dear 아빠 / Daddy,

If this were any other year, I'd be writing you a Father's Day card. But this year is the first year of my life that I am not experiencing a hand cramp from writing in such tiny lettering, trying to fit all my sentiments and gratitude within the never convenient spaces that card-making companies tend to leave.

Well. Just did two things I've never done before. I posted a video of myself deadlifting yesterday on my Instagram Stories, and then I just posted a full-body mirror selfie on Instagram for the purposes of this message. Recently I asked one of my old co-workers from Equinox and trusted fellow trainer to train me and program for me. This may come as a surprise or even might make some of you confused-- after all, I'm a trainer, so why on earth would I need someone to train me?

I'm sharing this with you all today because I want to dispel the negative stigma around asking for help. 

Two primary reasons: Firstly, I am busier and more stressed than I've ever been, leaving me very little brain + energy left to be a coach to myself. My second reason is that

I've always felt right at home in Paris, more than any other European city I've been to. Perhaps it's the similar energy to that of NYC's, or the attention to detail in all the beautiful design and surroundings that I love so much. Parisians manage to achieve multiple juxtapositions at once when it comes to design: they're super classic with neutrals, but use pops of color the most sophisticated way; they stay minimal with clean lines and classic silhouettes, yet step out of the box with novel flourishes that blend in seamlessly. And everything oozes romance-- not necessarily in the amorous way, but more so in the romance of the everyday, like a little bit of beauty interwoven throughout in plain sight.

Now taking those notes into account, dream up the most quintessentially Parisian boutique hotel, and Le Narcisse Blanc is exactly that in real life. This boutique hotel is a gem that is nestled right between the Eiffel Tower and Les Invalides, a mere few blocks from the Pont Alexandre III bridge over the Seine...

First of all, I'm having a bit of whiplash from the disbelief that my trip has already arrived! With all the craziness lately of my life in NYC, this trip totally crept up on me. Now it's time to go off and make some new memories and experience some familiar cities with fresh eyes and see new ones for the first time!

While I contemplated uploading a bunch of pre-scheduled posts for the duration of my trip, I had to stop myself. I haven't taken time away from this space in a very long time, and I need to just cut loose for the time I'm there without worrying about this blog, my baby, back at home. I'm hiring a babysitter, aka this post here, to entertain you guys while I'm gone. Of course you guys should make sure to follow my adventures along on my Instagram if you want up to speed content, but over here in this space, I've rounded up some of my favorite posts in each category-- to keep you busy with reading and growing...

When it comes to understanding ourselves, we tend to stick with what we've known about ourselves or been told about ourselves, rather than thinking about the current reality. 

We like labels. Labels help our brains classify and understand things; psychology research says that upon seeing or hearing something novel, our brains immediately try to categorize it within familiar labels to understand what it is...

Happy Friday, everyone! It finally is starting to feel like spring for real here in NYC, and I couldn't be more thrilled-- of course, it is right as I'm about to jet off for Europe, but still so happy to get a few sunny days coming up. 

Before I head out, I wanted to share one more awesome interview with an amazing woman who inspires! You may have seen her work in Condé Nast Traveler, Wall Street Journal, Travel & Leisure, or Food & Wine, but if not, I'm proud to highlight and introduce a fellow New York creative's work, and who she is on this Women Who Inspire interview series. So happy to introduce Charissa to you guys today, for anyone that has not come across her stunning photos on her Instagram. Charissa is a mom and a NYC-based travel, food, and lifestyle photographer. I love how...

Eating locally has become all the more important to me in the past few years. The more I've gotten educated about nutrition and food practices, the more I've learned what is actually important versus what is just a buzzword. Eating locally has become a bit of a trendy thing, and people lump it into a bunch of healthy buzz words alongside "organic" "all-natural" "plant-based" "non-GMO." Consumers see those words and associate whatever they're buying to be healthy... but that's not exactly true.

Today, I want to share with you guys some things I've learned over the years about eating locally grown produce, and how to navigate those labels so that your dollar actually goes towards what matters and not just marketing speak. My good friend and fellow blogger Jules, of Om and the City, and I teamed up with Gotham Greens to talk about the importance of this and more about their innovative urban farming practices that...

Here's the thing. Living authentically doesn't mean being chipper and happy all the time-- living authentically means owning your reality, facing our fears, and chasing wholeness over happiness. For me, it was only lately that I realized how out of touch with myself I had gotten this past year, because I have been feeling more like myself than I have in a long time. After all, it's only when you come up for air, do you realize you had been holding your breath...

One of my favorite parts of a new season, is welcoming seasonal produce that hasn't been around in some time. And while some produce is available nearly year-round, you'll find that it never tastes quite as amazing (or is as cheap!) as when it is in season. 

Eating seasonally and locally is something that is super important to me (post coming next week on that!), as there are nothing but benefits on all fronts of doing so. It's cheaper because it's easier for your local farmers to produce during optimal conditions for that produce, it's tastier because it's optimal weather conditions to create fresh flavor, AND it's more nutrient-dense during peak season than any other time. 

Healthy skincare has been having a MOMENT for the past two years. Women (and men) everywhere are trading in Saturday nights out for Saturday nights in, with sheet masks and green juices because they have to get up at 8am for their Sunday yoga class. Sound familiar?

Everyone is all about caring for their skin as much as possible these days, and that extends from skincare to makeup to internal well-being and care. So after struggling with so many skin issues, I wanted to share my favorite clean skincare and makeup favorites that have made the biggest difference for me, since I know my fellow sweat-tribe can also struggle with this! 

I transitioned over to all-natural clean beauty products awhile ago because some unique issues. After struggling with exhausting autoimmune issues for the past...

Of all things, a tweet about the recent Bachelor finale got me thinking about how we as a society regard the display of emotions. During the finale, the bachelor had to break up with one girl before he went onto propose to another, naturally (lolz), so this girl gets her heart broken on national television; which, is feasibly quite a mortifying and emotional event.

Then former contestant of the show applauded the runner-up on Twitter as "the strongest bachelorette I've ever seen. She didn't fall to pieces after all that. Bravo." 

...Wait. So if she...

Happy Friday, everyone-- hard to believe it's St. Patty's day, and there is a lot of snow still getting cleaned up here in NYC.

I've highlighted 4 amazing women so far on my Women Who Inspire Interview Series, and while we will certainly be returning with quite a few more awesome women to come, I've been stockpiling some amazing finds that I wanted to share before some of them become irrelevant. So, Favorite Friday Finds is back for this week!

9 awesome reads are coming your way + 1 RIDICULOUSLY cute surprise at the end. So either save it for reading over coffee tomorrow morning, or tear through some of the stuff that will make you feel all the feels, and inspire some thought!

I'm a huge advocate of being forward when it comes to your business. It may go against my introvert tendencies sometimes, but as an entrepreneur or a small business owner, you are essentially your only advocate. If you don't drive your business's train, it just doesn't move. 

When you are trying to create a business or further your career, you can't be complacent and wait for opportunity to come to you. You have to get out there, and yes, that tired word: network. Cold-emailing and asking people for a breakfast meeting or to coffee can be intimidating, because no one likes to be ignored or rejected right?

Well, that chance of rejection is always still there. But today I'm going to help you guys boost your chances at getting responses from people, as well as covering THE most important thing when cold-emailing someone: HOW you ask them. These are absolute musts when cold-emailing, pitching, or asking someone to meet over coffee.

You hear it's good for you, that you should do it to take care of your joints, so you don't get stiff, etc etc etc. This seemingly simplistic thing is actually far more complex than a simple sit and reach, and it doesn't help matters that every other trainer, instructor, and physical therapist is saying something different.

At the end of the day, every person has different needs, restrictions, and abilities, so this post is not to tell all the best stretch poses-- it's more about giving you the information you need to be able to strive for your goals more efficiently and safely. 

Here are 5 important things you might not know about stretching:

Happy hump day and first day of March, everyone! It's been awhile since I've done a Wellness Wednesday, and what's a better topic to jump back in with, than talking about how to get back on the fitness wagon?

I'm a big proponent of doing the little bits of effort everyday to stay on the wagon, because it is much easier to maintain being on the wagon than it is to get back on it. But sometimes life and shit happens and you go through phases. And suddenly, you find yourself on your butt, off the wagon. A basic principle of behavioral modification that my Precision Nutrition coaching taught me to teach my clients, is that you need to master a goal before you can add a...

We all fail. I'm not talking about the inevitable life failures that happen. I'm talking about the fact that we tell ourselves that we fail, all the time. And that is the one way we sabotage our contentment in life.

Don't think you do this? Sounds ludicrous, right-- why would you tell yourself you fail, all the time? Have you guys thought any of these things, even just this morning?

You know that feeling when you are looking for something in your coat pockets, only to discover that there's a crisp $20 bill in there from last year? Yep, it was that same feeling I had after searching for some photos on my hard drive and found some gems I never shared from my Europe trip to Switzerland and Italy two summers ago. I've shared one or two of these on few on my city travel guides to Zürich (hike on Felsenegg-Uetliberg) and Rome, but I also just re-edited these photos in the vibes of the aesthetic palettes I've been drawn to lately-- more muted colors and softer shades. 

Am working on some fun content for you guys, but it's been a busy week over here with a photoshoot yesterday (check out some sneak peeks on Instagram!), training sessions, and some apartment-hunting. So today, I'm just going to leave you to soak up these wanderlust-inspiring handful of favorites I found the other day. Take a trip to Zürich, up in the Swiss mountains, Roma, Positano, and Amalfi. Happy humpday!

One of my new training clients asked me what would be some of the best breakfast meals to eat after our workouts in the morning, and it's a super commonly asked question. A post-workout meal should be healthy, protein-packed, and filling because you want to make sure that you're reaping in the benefits of that hard workout you just sweated your butt off for. But then combine that with the morning rush of trying to get out the door on the weekdays for work, it can make things a little tricky sometimes, leaving some people to skip breakfast. And that is the worst thing you can do after a workout. So, I wanted to share some of my favorite quick and easy post-workout breakfast ideas and tricks...